delivery statement . chalks farm sawbridgeworth · 2019-09-24 · • flood risk assessment...

BARRATT NORTH LONDON

DELIVERY STATEMENT . CHALKS FARM SAWBRIDGEWORTH

BARRATT NORTH LONDON 2

1 Introduction 2

2 Planning Policy Context 5

3 The Site 6

4 Constraints and Opportunities 9

6 The Vision 14

7 The Proposals 17

8 Conclusion 19

CONTEXT


DELIVERY STATEMENT .CHALKS FARM SAWBRIDGEWORTH

This Delivery Statement has been prepared by Barratt Homes North Lon-

don to support the promotion of land at Chalks Farm, Sawbridgeworth as

part of the emerging East Hertfordshire District Plan. This document

demonstrates that Chalks Farm is a sustainable deliverable site and

should be allocated for development within the District Plan.

This document has been informed by a robust evidence base and should

be read in conjunction with the following documents:

• Transport Strategy by Odyssey Consulting Engineers

• Phase 1 Habitat Survey prepared by Southern Ecological Solutions

• Landscape and Visual Impact Appraisal prepared by David Williams

Associates

• Services Appraisal prepared by Odyssey Consulting Engineers

• Flood Risk Assessment prepared by Odyssey Consulting Engineers

1. INTRODUCTION


Barratt North London

Barratt North London has high aspirations for the development at

Chalk’s Farm and wishes to achieve a high quality sustainable resi-

dential neighbourhood at the edge of Sawbridgeworth that will contrib-

ute towards district wide housing needs.

Barratt North London has a long and proven track record in the incep-

tion and implementation of major development projects in the area ,

with award winning Saffron Gardens development in Sawbridgeworth

being one of them.

Building for Life.

Barratt Homes is one of the few developers committed to assess all its

schemes against Building for Life criteria to ensure delivery of quality

places.

Building for Life 12 is the industry standard assessment , endorsed by

Government, for well-designed homes and neighbourhoods.

The 12 questions reflect the vision of what new housing developments

should be: attractive, functional and sustainable places. Redesigned in

2012, BfL12 is based on the new National Planning Policy Framework

and the Government’s commitment to build more homes, better homes

and involve local communities in planning


2. PLANNING CONTEXT

East Hertfordshire District Council (EHDC) have published the Draft

District Plan intended to replace the 2007 Local Plan. This will set out the

future housing requirements for the District to 2031 and put forward sites

where those requirements can be met.

Chalks Farm has been identified for housing as part of the draft District

Plan under policy SAWB3 to provide for 300 residential units.

As a possible location for growth that The proximity of this location to

both primary and secondary education , sustainable transport opportuni-

ties and local retail and community facilities would enable new develop-

ment to relate well to existing infrastructure.


3. THE SITE DELIVERY STATEMENT .CHALKS FARM SAWBRIDGEWORTH

Location of the Site

The Site is just over 14 hectares in size. It is located to the

south of West Road and west of Coney Gree on the Western

side of Sawbridgeworth, immediately adjoining the built up

area of the town. The Site currently lies outside the settle-

ment boundary of Sawbridgeworth and is shown in the cur-

rent Local Plan as lying within the open countryside and

Green Belt.

The town of Sawbridgeworth lies between Bishop’s Stortford,

(6.0 kilometres to the north of The Site) and Harlow (5.0 kilo-

metres to the south of the Site). The western parts of the

settlement lie on a low ridge and eastern facing slopes of the

River Stort valley with the river flowing southwards to join the

River Lee to the west of Harlow.

The Site comprises arable field in a landscape that is general-

ly open with little tree cover apart from hedgerow trees follow-

ing the network of local roads and subdividing fields.

The site is very well connected by an exist-

ing footpath network and bus services. The

footpath to the northern boundary links the

site to the Mandeville Primary School and

nursery and to the A1184 London Road and

the town centre. The Leventhorpe Acade-

my School and Leisure Centre is within 1.2

km and can be accessed by foot using foot-

ways along West Road and Cambridge

Road. The eastern footpath provides links

to the residential areas immediately to the

east of the site to also link to the town cen-

tre and provide connectivity to local ser-

vices and facilities including Vantorts Park

and the Bullfields Centre Centre. There are

bus stops within a five minute walk from the

site boundaries. The main bus services at

high frequency link to Bishops Stortford

and Harlow and Stansted airport. Saw-

bridgeworth railway station is also within a

20 minute walk, with regular services to

London Liverpool Street, Harlow and Cam-

bridge. The site’s location close to a com-

prehensive and wide-reaching network of

road, pedestrian and public transport links

gives it excellent accessibility.


The Site in Context


The Site and It’s Context.

View 1 (See the landscape constraints plan)



4 CONSTRAINTS AND OPPORTUNITIES

The Evidence Base referred to in the introduction has addressed landscape, acces-

sibility, flood risk, ecology and services to determine the constraints and opportuni-

ties in being able to deliver development at Chalks Farm. The outcome of that work

is summarised below.

Landscape

(Refer to David William’s Landscape Strategy)

The Site is not designated as having any particular landscape value or quality, but it

currently lies within the Metropolitan Green Belt to the west of Sawbridgeworth.

There are four landscape and visual issues in understanding the constraints and

opportunities to development.

Impact on Landscape

Development of The Site for housing would result in a change to the character and

visual appearance of The Site. However, there is an excellent opportunity to improve

and enhance the built up edge of Sawbridgeworth through the provision of areas of

new structural planting and open space, (including the retention of the existing

hedgerow and trees) within The Site. This would minimise the landscape effects of

development for housing on the locality and the Green Belt..

Impact on Existing Trees and Other Vegetation

Development of the majority of The Site would be unconstrained by hedgerows and

trees, as it is mostly devoid of these features being open arable fields with field

boundary hedgerows and trees.

Visibility and Public Views of the Site

Views towards The Site can be obtained from a limited number of vantage points in

the immediate vicinity; and in some middle distance views to the west, north and

south west. Near distant views are obtained from short sections of public footpaths

and roads in close proximity where partial and glimpsed views are possible through

and/or over the boundary vegetation as shown on the Landscape Constraints and

Opportunities Plan.

With careful consideration given to height, form, density, scale, layout and landscap-

ing , visual impact of the development can be minimised.

Impact on Green Belt

The EHDC Green Belt Review Part 1 supporting the Draft District Plan provides an

analysis of the impact of potential development sites in relation to the principles of the

Green Belt set out in the National Planning Policy Framework. The Chalks Farm site

falls within the development area categorised 33/84 (High Wych Slopes). The Review

has been able to confirm that in terms of:

Checking the sprawl of built-up areas, development of the area will not have a sig-

nificant impact due to its location to the north of High Wych Road, lying adjacent to

West Road.

Preventing neighbouring towns merging into one another, there is no town to the

west, but the village of High Wych lies in proximity to the south west . However, the

development at Chalks Farm lies to the north and arable fields between would pro-

vide a substantial development buffer zone.

Reducing the impact on the countryside from encroachment the Rivers Nursery

and Orchard is a Key Wildlife Site and of national arboricultural importance. Rivers

Orchard is however located near to High Wych and is not therefore affected by the

Chalks Farm development site. Furthermore Chalks Farm is bounded in part to the

north and east with development. It is therefore well related to the built up area and

suited to a residential addition of this scale.

Preserving the setting and special character of historic towns Sawbridgeworth is

known as a compact town. The Green Belt along with a floodplain to the immediate

east of the town has contributed to maintaining its form. The Chalks Farm site is not

within the floodplain and, having regard to the landscape considerations set out

above, development can be contained by existing boundary features supplemented

by structural landscaping to reduce impact and enhance the edge of the settlement.



Landscape Constraints and Opportunities Plan

2

1

3

Ecology

(refer to Southern Ecological Solution ecology work)

The proposed development area has been subject to ecological surveys, including:

C Desktop Study Extended Phase 1 Survey.

C Hedgerow Survey

C Reptile Survey

C Bat Survey

The site is comprised of intensively managed arable land of low ecological value.

Habitats of significance are restricted to the boundaries of site (hedgerows and

Sawbridgeworth Brook). These boundary habitats are of value to several protected

species/ Biodiversity Action Plan species, as well as being of general biodiversity

value themselves.

Any impact upon these ecologically valuable features can be mitigated through

design to ensure that valuable features are retained and protected.

Providing extensive boundary planting will enhance the biodiversity value of the

existing boundary habitats, as well as create new ecologically valuable habitats on

site (woodland and woodland edge). This will benefit protected species such as

bats, as well as biodiversity in general. It is considered that implementing these

enhancements will result in a positive increase to the biodiversity value of the site

as a whole.


Accessibility (refer to Odyssey Markides Transport Strategy )

• Proposed Access

The principle and location of a site access onto West Road have been agreed

with Hertfordshire County Council and a junction assessment has confirmed that

development of up to 300 units at Chalk’s Farm can be accommodated in ca-

pacity terms.

In terms of the local network an assessment of the key, double mini-roundabout

junction in the centre of Sawbridgeworth where West Road meets the A1184

London Road has confirmed that it has the capacity to accommodate up to the

300 proposed dwellings with minor mitigation works within the highway bounda-

ry.

An assessment of existing on-street parking along West Road demonstrates that

this does not unduly prejudice the movement of traffic.

• Walking and Cycling

The site is within a sustainable location with facilities and services in Sawbridge-

worth within walking and cycling distance of the site including schools, healthcare

and the town centre as shown on the Site In Context Map..

The site has good connectivity to the existing footway network for safe conven-

ient access to these. As well as footways alongside a vehicular site access at

West Road, there are three points of pedestrian connection along the eastern

boundary to West Road, Coney Gree and Gilders, all of which provide direct

routes of just five minutes walk to London Road.

• Internal Access Arrangements

The internal layout of the site would be designed so as to maximise the permea-

bility of the site for pedestrian and cycle movement both within and to the exter-

nal connections.

• Access to Public Transport

The site has access to the high frequency bus corridor of London Road with di-

rect services south to Harlow and north to Bishop’s Stortford and Stansted Air-

port. West Road also benefits from being located on the ‘Sawbobus’ network;.

Frequent rail services are available from Sawbridgeworth station, which is a 20

minute walk or less than 10 minute cycle ride from the site.


Flood Risk

(refer to Odyssey Markides Flood Risk Asessment and Surface Water Drainage

Strategy)

Following recent flood modelling of the Sawbridgeworth Brook, the majority of the

site is shown to be located within Flood Zone 1, and is at low risk of flooding. An

extremely small portion of the site (approximately 1% of the site area) along the

eastern boundary is shown to be located within Flood Zones 2 and 3. The site is

also located within an outer zone (2) of a source protection zone.

Existing ground conditions suggest that the site may not support infiltration meth-

ods of surface water disposal and rainwater from the site generally falls to the

Sawbridgeworth Brook. As the site is currently Greenfield, surface water discharge

to the Brook will be required to be limited.

Attenuation can be provided on site in the form of Sustainable Drainage Systems

(SuDS) such as ponds, swales, permeable paving and below ground systems.

These systems also have the potential to increase the biodiversity value of the site

through the provision of natural habitats. By utilising SuDS and limiting surface

water discharge the proposed development will not increase flood risk to the sur-

rounding area and will have the net benefit of reducing flood risk to the surround-

ing area by reducing flows to the Sawbridgeworth Brook. The small strip of land

within FZ2/3 is required by The Environment Agency to remain open to provide an

amenity corridor adjacent to the brook.

Drainage Services

Thames Water maintains both storm and foul drainage infrastructure in the Saw-

bridgeworth area. Development within Sawbridgeworth will fall within the Rye

Meads Waste Water Treatment Works. To accommodate future anticipated hous

ing growth in its catchment area gradual upgrading of the trunk sewers is required.

This is regardless of the specific location of any development and is accounted for

in Thames Water’s infrastructure plans.

Locally the Chalks Farm site can be served by the existing public foul drainage

network through network reinforcement where necessary and utilising water effi-

cient components within the new development homes.

Other Services

The site benefits from its location adjacent to existing strategic infrastructure which

will enable a connection to be made to public water supply, gas, electric and tele-

communication services with minimal network reinforcement to the site.



6. THE VISION

Based on the assessment of the site’s constraints and opportunities summarised briefly in this document, we are able to confirm the site is achievable and delivera-ble . The Vision for the development at Chalks’s Farm is to provide a new, vibrant,

attractive neighbourhood at the edge of Sawbridgeworth.

The key aims for the new neighbourhood will be :

•To provide a landscape led development with rich and varied network of green open spaces and linear parks that will incorporated and augment important land-

scape features.

•To deliver much needed housing for the district and for Sawbridgeworth.

•To promote objectives of sustainable development through layout and design.

•To create an attractive, high quality development with a great sense of place and

identity.

•To create a neighbourhood that builds upon and enhances the character of Saw-

bridgeworth.

•To provide a safe and secure environment for all users.

•To provide a development that is well connected, readily understood and easily

navigated.

•To create an environment that prioritises pedestrians and cyclists.

•To provide a range of dwelling sizes, types and mix of tenure that will offer a choice

of lifestyle accessible and acceptable to all.

•To enhance and improve biodiversity and provide wildlife corridors.

•To create an attractive interface with the open countryside.

•To remediate development patterns and create plenty of links and connections to the

surrounding neighbourhoods.

•To achieve a sustainable water drainage system with swales and ponds that will

enhance the quality of the landscape.

•To create ample opportunities for recreation and play by incorporating different activi-

ty areas into the open space.

Landscape Led Development


A key part of the vision will be to improve and enhance the built up edge of

Sawbridgeworth through the strategic use of effective landscaping and the

creation of public open space.

The strategy is illustrated on the Landscape Strategy Plan. It includes the

following:

• The retention of existing hedgerows and adjoining trees on the site bounda-

ries to minimise the landscape effects of developing the site.

• The introduction of significant new belts of structural planting and land-

scape ‘buffers’ along the western and southern boundaries of the Site to

provide containment and a visual screen and assist in reducing the scale of

the development and assimilate it into the local and wider landscape.

These would form part of the public open space to provide:

• Play areas for toddlers and young children.

• Pedestrian links around the development, thereby forming part of a ‘green

grid / green Infrastructure’ network around and through the site, as well as

providing links to the wider public footpath network.

• The landscaping to maintain and support the wildlife habitat and diversity

of the area.

• Open space and landscape planting along the eastern boundary (adjoining

the Sawbridgeworth Brook) to incorporate flood attenuation features and

pedestrian / cycleway routes . The existing bridge over the Sawbridgeworth

Brook could be enhanced and provide a direct link to route into the town.

Additional pedestrian bridges will be provided.

• The provision of a comprehensive landscape scheme, including open space

areas, within the housing areas and adjoining the access roads to create an

attractive and pleasant environment for the new residents.


Indicative Landscape Strategy

Indicative Development Opportunities


The development proposals comprise:

• Up to 300 residential units

• An interconnected network of green open spaces incor-porating linear parks, greens, incidental open space and

a buffer zone around the boundary

• Play areas

• Allotments

• Recreation facilities

• Pedestrian, cycle and vehicle routes

• Parking

• Drainage works (including sustainable ground and sur-

face water attenuation)

• Access from West Road

• Secondary access to West Road

• Pedestrian links to the Eastern edge of Sawbridgeworth

7. THE PROPOSALS

Indicative Sketch Scheme for 300 units showing how the scheme can evolve.


This document presents our preliminary ideas as to how the site could be

delivered to meet the requirements of the East Herts District Plan. It will be

used as a basis for discussions with the Council, local community and key

stakeholders by Barratt Homes and the landowners as the process evolves.

The vision for the land at Chalks Farm aims to create an aspirational and

sustainable place for living and create a new neighbourhood at the edge of

Sawbridgeworth whilst respecting the existing character of the site.

Using high quality architecture and landscape led design the site provides an

opportunity to support the existing community whilst assisting the Council to

meet local objectively assessed housing needs .


8. CONCLUSION

delivery statement . chalks farm sawbridgeworth · 2019-09-24 · • flood risk assessment...

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